Since its publication in 1885, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is one of Mark Twain's most loved, most influential, and most controversial books of all time. The number one reason why the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is controversial is because of the racism throughout the book. The constant use of the word "nigger" and the strong presence of slavery have thrown people into an uproar ever since it was published. The controversy even reaches high school education, where many juniors are required to read the novel during their junior year. This requirement raises many questions about the value of the novel. One question is whether or not the novel should be a required reading for high school students. The answer is two-faced, because there are some questionable themes and word choice, but on the other hand, if the material is presented in a mature way, with a discussion about the, questionable, racial material, Huck Finn really can be, and is, one of the greatest literary works of all time.

The cover of the first edition of Adventures of Hu...

Illustration of Jim and Huckleberry Finn, by EW Ke...

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Ernest Hemmingway said, "all great American literature comes from Huckleberry Finn," and John Wallace counters that it's "racist" and "trash". One of the arguments Wallace makes against the book is that because of the repeated use of the word "nigger" throughout the novel, students of African descent and African-Americans feel offended and abused by the novel. Wallace professes that no student should ever feel that he or she is being discriminated against in the classroom and that whether or not Twain meant it to be so, his novel is racially offensive. He proclaims that derogatory terms are unacceptable in any context, even in great works of literature (Wallace). While I agree with Wallace in his opinion that no student should ever feel threatened in their place...

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'To live with fear and not be afraid is the greatest sign of maturity.' If this is true, then Mark Twain's Huck Finn is the greatest example of maturity. Huck is the narrator of Twain's book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the book Huck, a young boy from the American South, travels down ...

Huckleberry Finn illustrates the thought and acceptance of slavery in the late nineteenth century (at the rise of revolts by angry slaves). At first the story seems like any other. Huck, a young thirteen year old Caucasian male is just trying to make an imprint on life and be freed from all the  ...

"At the heart of Huckleberry Finn lies a story about real human figures with genuine moral and ethical problems and decisions..." (Lauriat 26). This statement reveals the true nature of Twain's controversial novel by looking at the deeper messages of the book. This novel is a hot debate topic in ...

... are just some of the many ways that Mark Twain develops the major theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain uses this type of deliberate cruelty to help make the major theme clearer to the reader. By the inhumane actions of Pap towards Huck, the dishonesty of the King and the ...

... Twain & Finn: Breaking the Language Barrier Mark Twain's use of language and dialect in the book "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" helped him to bring about the overall feel that he conveyed throughout the book, allowing him to show Huck Finn's attitudes and beliefs concerning the nature of ...

... One of Pudd'nhead's hobbies is collecting fingerprints, and he has managed to collect the prints of the entire town. No one else realizes the babies are switched, but Pudd'nhead, and when the time is right he lets everyone else know too. Twain ...

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